News & views on everything to do with the mountains including skiing, snowboarding, holidays, leisure, mountaineering and weather. We focus especially on the Portes du Soleil region of the French Alps.
The sun is out, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the summer MTB season well and truly underway.
We have already had the Pass Portes du Soleil race - with the hub of this year’s race taking place in Chatel along with demos, competitions and exhibitions.
We had some Canadian freeride legends including Steve Romaniuk and some of the other RadicalFilms (Kranked) Riders in town for the 4th Chatel Mountain Style comp last weekend.
Trek, Scott and Commencal have had various product launches and team training in the region, we still have the Champery MTB World Cup on July 24-25th, plus Chatel is hosting the final of the European IXS Downhill Cup From Saturday 11 September to Sunday 12 September 2010.
As well as all the “celebrity” mtb news, the everyday riding in Chatel has stepped up a gear (excuse the pun) with a number of new trails at the bike park, and some improvements on the existing trails. Full information about the riding in Chatel can be found on the Chatel bike park site.
Take a look at the highlights of some of the season so far…
As we near the half way point in March, it is clear that this is turning into an epic season. We have had consistent snowfall and cold temperatures now pretty much since the end of December, snow conditions are still fantastic, the sun is shining and the pistes are pretty empty. I knew there was a reason why I love March skiing so much.
There are some great events lined up over the next couple of weeks, including the Chatel 3 style days which includes downhill mountainbiking on snow, freestyle ski & board competition and waterslide (20-24th March).
As we enter the busy school holiday period, conditions in the Portes du Soleil are excellent. Chatel has 125 cm of snow at the base, and Avoriaz has 240 cm at the top!
Great piste & off piste skiing conditions to be found everywhere.
We woke to snow falling today which is always nice. Yesterday I took a spin around Pre La Joux, Linderets and Avoriaz, and pistes conditions were pretty good for the time of year. The off pistes is a bit barren in places, so don’t venture into it on your new planks! However, the piste skiing is great and a lot of the domain is open.
Things start to get busy at the weekend for the festive period, and the good news is that significant snow should be falling early next week!
The “Tour de Romandie”, which will be held April 27 to May 2 2010 will end a stage Chatel.
After starting in Porrentruy (Jura), the race will pass by by Freiburg, Moudon, Chatel (France), ending with a big mountain stage and starting and finishing in Sion.
Arriving in Chatel, Saturday 1 May, this will be an event as this is the first time the Tour end a stage on foreign soil.
We haven’t posted here for a while - mostly because we have been so busy taking bookings for next winter. However, we thought you’d want to know that we have had the first nip of winter, with light snow on the mountains and sub zero temperatures in the village.
Good news for skiers! Not so good news for those of us who still have work to finish off outside…!
Good news for everyone planning to holiday in Chatel and the Portes du Soleil. Snowjet have just launched winter flights to Sion airport, which is only 45 minutes away from Chatel.
This will cut down on transfer times significantly.
All flights are from Stanstead Airport and at the moment seem to be in the region of £100 per person each way for the Christmas/New Year weekend.
The Fete du St Laurant was a great success, despite the heavens opening midway through the afternoon. The British expats entered a fantastic float. It was such a hit with the locals that it was invited down to the La Chapelle and the Abondance fetes on subsequent weekends!
Good news for everyone planning to holiday in Chatel and the Portes du Soleil. Snowjet have just launched winter flights to Sion airport, which is only 45 minutes away from Chatel.
